Capirossi and Stoner return to maiden one-two scene

Of the riders making their final appearance for their respective teams, perhaps the most emotional goodbye will be that of Ducati rider Loris Capirossi.

Of the riders making their final appearance for their respective teams, perhaps the most emotional goodbye will be that of Ducati rider Loris Capirossi. The veteran brings his five year stay in the Italian team to a close as he makes his move to Suzuki, hoping to leave the outfit with which he has been synonymous since their arrival in MotoGP with another fine result. Capirossi was part of Ducati's historic maiden one-two at Valencia last year, finishing second behind stand-in Troy Bayliss. He repeated the feat this year at Phillip Island with team-mate Casey Stoner taking top honours.
"Valencia will be a very big weekend for me and for everyone else involved in this project. It is my last race for this team after five incredible years. Last year we had a great weekend there - I finished second and Troy won the race for the team - so I hope we can do something like that again," says Capirossi.

"It will be quite an emotional weekend for me because we already have many great memories from the last five seasons, there have been some tough times, of course, but it is the good times that I want to remember: scoring Ducati's first MotoGP podium in our first race together at Suzuka in April 2003 and then Ducati's first win at Catalunya in June 2003, also my hat-trick of victories at Motegi over the past three years. Incredible memories! So now my job is to try and finish my time with Ducati in the best way. Valencia is quite a tough track on a MotoGP bike - slow and tight - so it's very hard work. We will work on the engine and chassis to get the best performance and aim to repeat my recent form at Motegi and Phillip Island."
Of course, the man alongside Capirossi is none other than the 2007 MotoGP World Champion. Stoner has the chance to break the record for most points scored in a single season, albeit with an extra race at his disposal as a result of the addition of Misano to the calendar this year. The Australian is as calm as ever ahead of the race, which has some special memories for the 22 year-old.
"Valencia will be a special weekend, the last race of a season that has been a dream come true. The championship may already be done but I don't need any more motivation than each race weekend. Every race is just as important as the others to me, so we go out there every time to try and win. The only difference now is that I'm a bit more relaxed, a bit more confident in my own abilities and what I can do with a bike," says Stoner.
"Valencia looks very slow and tight but it's surprisingly flowing, I've always really enjoyed it. I had my first GP win there so I've had some really good results there, also some bad ones. I tested the Ducati for the first time at Valencia last November and we were pretty much quickest, so I think with the experience we've gained we can do a good job. There are a lot of second and third gear corners, like most tracks, but because most of the corners are right angles and banked so you can flow in there and use a lot of corner speed. That really helps with the gearbox because you only really use two gears, other than on the straights, so it's quite easy to get set up. It's just a matter of getting your braking and entry points right and getting on the gas at the right moment."